The St. Louis Cardinals are preparing for a busy offseason after being trade-deadline sellers amid a disappointing 2023 campaign.
"I think our approach is going to be very aggressive on the pitching side," team president of baseball operations John Mozeliak said, according to MLB.com's John Denton.
Mozeliak stated that the team plans to add three starting pitchers in the offseason after trading Jack Flaherty and Jordan Montgomery at the deadline. Veteran righty Adam Wainwright is also set to retire at season's end.
"We went into the season thinking that we would have (starting pitching depth) covered," Mozeliak said. "It didn't work out that way."
Alongside Flaherty, Montgomery, and Wainwright, the Cardinals' starting rotation was expected to include Steven Matz, Miles Mikolas, and Jake Woodford, with Dakota Hudson and Matthew Liberatore serving as depth.
Instead, the staff struggled all year, collectively authoring a 4.73 ERA and 4.34 FIP that's particularly weighed down by Wainwright's 8.78 ERA over 15 starts.
Shohei Ohtani, Julio Urias, Marcus Stroman, and Aaron Nola are among the pitchers expected to be available in free agency this winter.
